One of the persisting myths about comprehensive, carbon-pricing legislation is that it would cost the nation an arm and a leg to enact. This simply is not the case, as a recent bipartisan, independent analysis of the dying Kerry-Lieberman clean energy...

Saturday July 10, 2010, 4:11 am
I have lived in a solar heated home with solar hot water and electric since 2001. It is the most comfortable home I have ever lived in. Thank you for posting this information Ben. We all need clean and safe energy NOW !

Saturday July 10, 2010, 4:28 am
I care about what you say Ben.. I kind of want the planet to be here for my Grandson.. he may like to swim in lake or be able to wash his hair with water that is not green. He also may like to breathe, and see the sun.
So thank you for what you are doing, many would thank you if they knew what was ahead of them. Please never give up.. the world is at stake.

Saturday July 10, 2010, 4:31 am
"Because we don't think about future generations, they will never forget us"
(Henrik Tikkanen)
Or:
"Let's put our minds together and see what future we can make for out Children"
(Sitting Bull)

Saturday July 10, 2010, 9:27 am
Thanks, Ben, if not now, when? What are we waiting for? Until it is too late?
The song, Save me Now, actually brought tears to my eyes. To see this beautiful blue planet and then the photos of the pollution and trash is so heartbreaking. We are pillaging the earth that sustains us. Makes no sense, does it?

Saturday July 10, 2010, 9:49 am
Absolutamente! It's NOW or NEVER...
We cannot wait for our so called "Leaders" to act, that's for sure. They have been talking the talk for decades, and the result...? -Tell me about it!
EG: The UN Stockholm Conference 1972 (38 years ago DAMMIT!!!) delivered a declaration so beautiful, it could make You cry...
Making promises is the very easiest thing to do,
but, when broken, how much are they worth to You...???

Saturday July 10, 2010, 9:53 am
The first totally solar powered airplane flew a 25 hour flight and landed with more power then when it took off - it flew through the night without complication. The only problem reported by the pilot as that his battery on his I-phone died and he couldn't listen to his tunes.

I get the feeling that many may feel that conversion to other forms of energy is some how inferior to fossil fuel, that may be a part of the normal process of change or just a lack of understanding. In America I know that feeling is strongly promoted and catered to by both the coal and natural gas industries - the so-called "clean" fuels. Clean - like the oil in the Gulf.

Saturday July 10, 2010, 9:55 am
I take this opportunity to once again promote the Avaaz petition
"NO MORE OFFSHORE DRILLING!"
To President Obama and members of Congress:
We urge you to permanently call off plans to open up more of the US coastline to dangerous offshore drilling. Instead, invest in a CLEAN and SAFE ENERGY future.
489,228 have signed the petition! Let's get to our delivery target of 500,000!
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_offshore_drilling/?fp
Thank You! Muchas Gracias! Danke Schön! Merci! Muito Obrigado! Arigato! Kiitos! Tack!

Saturday July 10, 2010, 1:12 pm
Well, the use of Petroleum is not costing the Nation an arm and a leg, that's for sure! It's costing our lives! I told you that Congress has an agenda against clean energy, because it would take longer for them to get "political benefits" in the short run, like they do with petroleum, so forget that they will pass any clean energy bill for now and not until they have sucked out of the earth the FULL Three Trillion Barrels of oil that are still down under. That would be about 30 more years before they pass this clean energy bill, because by then, there won't be any more oil. We are going to have to start fabricating our own clean energy ourselves!

Saturday July 10, 2010, 2:29 pm
The time is now for clean energy. No more stalling, if the government can't do it, I'm sure there are some enterprising people out of work who could figure out how to make the solar panels, the batteries, the wind turbines, install them and it can be done without the government's input. How about it, any out-of-work engineers out there who could get the ball rolling?

Saturday July 10, 2010, 2:43 pm
Well, you can afford it because you plan to charge other people for it!
It is a good longterm goal, but not cheap enough or practical yet.
If it was cheaper than what we have now, you could not stop people from doing it!!
Many people can just barely make ends meet now and a tax the middle class to help the poor plan will not work because the middle class is sinking too. The fabled green jobs are not picking up the bad economy fast enough and all it would take is a large increase in energy costs to wipe out most of us.

Saturday July 10, 2010, 3:05 pm
Yes, if not now, WHEN? It is unfortunate that solar panels and other clean energy resources are still not affordable for the "average" person. We have to keep fighting this, I agree that it is crucial. You are an inspiration Ben; keep reminding us that we can't stop fighting! Calling our "officials" and making changes in our own lives. I am so proud of my one sibling, a brother in Santa Fe, for converting his home to solar recently. It cost $40,000, and he could only pay for it by again mortgaging his recently paid off house. The electric car he is going to acquire to drive to work will be charged by solar. The governor of New Mexico is also a champion of solar power, and is offering incentives to solar companies to come to his state. We need more of our officials to "get it".

Saturday July 10, 2010, 3:55 pm
Thanks again Ben, for all the info and sites. I'll check them all out shortly. Once I learn how to make and post a link, I hope I can join forces here on Care2, with info. Your stars are all well earned, you can be sure of that!

If enough business's would join the alternative energy force, the products and companies, would grow making the energy sources on a par with fossil fuels. A lot of unemployed people would be put back in the work force to boot!

Saturday July 10, 2010, 4:37 pm
NOW is a fine time. Let us not rehash this same conversation in ten years. (Optimistically thinking we have a decade left.) We can create hope and an action plan, or plan for upcoming ecocide disasters to multiply. NOW is a fine time indeed, don't you agree?

Saturday July 10, 2010, 4:45 pm
YES I AGREE EILEEN, THE PROBLEM IS THE HIGH LEVEL OF POWER THAT CONTROLS THE WORLD THE PRESIDENTS AND THE ALL GOOD PEOPLE WHO REALLY WANT TO MAKE A CHANGE, I WANT THAT CHANGE BECAUSE AS OSCAR SAID IS NOW OR NEVER AND WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME. I'M STILL IN SHOCK WITH THE GULF THING AND DUNNO IF THAT WILL ONCE AND FOR ALL WAKE UP PEOPLE TO A GREEN REVOLUTION I WISH.

Saturday July 10, 2010, 5:39 pm
Oil is going to run out sometime anyway, so the sooner humanity makes the conversion to clean and green the better. Conversion to clean and green would cost 1-2% of the world's advertising budget. The political will and understanding is lacking. Oil corporations are still pushing for their way and profits.

Humanity should hurry up and care for the planet before the acidification and death of the oceans.

Saturday July 10, 2010, 6:28 pm
The answer rests with the people.
Vote for the politicians who oppose the corrupt system of lobbyists.
Lobbyists have and are controlling the governmen.
Lobbyists are bribed by the special interest groups (big corporations) and inturn bribe the politicians for votes.
Politicians invest in the large special interest groups (Oil. Pharma. etc.) and vote against any other form of energy until such is proven to be a benefit to their pockets.
GET RID OF PARASITE LOBBYISTS AND WE'LL HAVE A GOVERNMENT FOR THE INTEREST OF THE PEOPLE.

Saturday July 10, 2010, 7:08 pm
It can be done but oil corporations are standing in the way, and of course governments are getting bribery money from these criminals to keep the oil flowing. Well keep in mind who is to blame when the temperatures reach 100 to 150 degrees, and you don't have air-conditioning anymore, because. the power grid can't handle the strain. That is where things will be heading the more population the worse that it will get the more oil consumption the more greenhouse gas the more heat, because, by 2030 no more rainforest left which keeps the planet cool. Now do you see how stupid we are.

Saturday July 10, 2010, 7:23 pm
I see a revolution on the horizon, if governments continue to ignore the people then there will be problems that they will have caused. The G20 summit here in Toronto brought a lot of people together that were getting fed up with the government because their issues fell on deaf ears. Most if not all of the summit was about banking and not about the real issues like poverty, social programs, and climate change to name a few. Climate change is the biggest problems that we will be facing and we are doing little to change that that is really tragic.

Sunday July 11, 2010, 1:05 am
To Jelika : I signed your petition to President Obama. Even if I don't live in the US and I'm not American, your country still has the leadership of the entire world. But be conscius that many European and Asian countries are already developing sustainable energies, and the trend must go on !

Sunday July 11, 2010, 2:36 am
Thanks Folks.
This concerns all of us, even if 25% of this Planet's energy is consumed in The U.S. We must swift to renewable energy NOW, internationally. Some countries are acting; more than 20% of Denmark's electricity comes from wind energy, and have done so for many years. In Spain solar energy is coming strong. I don't agree with those who's saying: -It's not possible, the technology is not there, corporations (Big Oil a.o.) will never...and IF this, and IF that...etc...etc...
The only "IF" I wonder about is: -IF we haven't even tried, how the hell can we say that it isn't possible???

Sunday July 11, 2010, 3:26 am
Thank you Ben! The other night I had some friends over for dinner and we started talking about oil & the disaster in the Gulf. I will not relate the whole conversation, but the consensus was that if we did not do something about the mess we are creating on this planet and adopt renewable energy, the Human race (or most of it) would be extinct in 100 years. Its time we started protesting the hegemony of fossel fuels!

Sunday July 11, 2010, 4:30 am
Here's "News" from THREE YEARS ago:
"House Passes Bill to Support Renewable Energy"
The House yesterday passed a far-reaching package of energy legislation that would promote conservation and the use of renewable resources at the expense of the country's oil and gas interests.
The bill, which passed 241 to 172, would require more energy efficiency in appliances, buildings and power grids, which proponents of the bill say would reduce carbon dioxide emissions and electricity use. It calls for more energy efficiency measures in the Capitol building. It also would provide grants for studies to promote ethanol pipelines, installation of pumps for 85 percent ethanol fuel at gas stations and production of cellulosic ethanol...
...Yakety-yak...yakety-yak...
http://energizenowinitiative.blogspot.com/2007/08/house-passes-bill-to-support-renewable.html

Sunday July 11, 2010, 4:51 am
Renewables play major role in Europe's new electricity capacity.
The share of renewables in the new electricity generation capacity installed in the EU27 rose from 57 percent in 2008 to 62 percent (17 gigawatts, GW) in 2009, according to the report from the European Commission's Joint Research Centre...
http://www.energy-enviro.fi/index.php?PAGE=5&NODE_ID=7&LANG=1&ID=3208

Sunday July 11, 2010, 4:53 am
China advances in sustainable energy.
China has taken a number of measures to increase energy efficiency and the contribution of renewable energy sources to the growing demand, according to a special review launched by the Sustainable Energy Regulation Network...
http://www.energy-enviro.fi/index.php?PAGE=5&NODE_ID=7&LANG=1&ID=3205

Sunday July 11, 2010, 5:20 am
Building more clean energy producing plants will only increase the amount of available jobs and would also probably allow us to cut down on costs for electricity as well as fuel. Making our lives cleaner and more sustainable will only produce good things for us in my opinion.

Sunday July 11, 2010, 5:31 am
Once again, -Please sign the Avaaz petition
"NO MORE OFFSHORE DRILLING!"
To President Obama and members of Congress:
We urge you to permanently call off plans to open up more of the US coastline to dangerous offshore drilling. Instead, invest in a CLEAN and SAFE ENERGY future"
489,338 have signed the petition. Let's get to our delivery target of 500,000!
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_offshore_drilling/?fp
This petition took off like a rocket, but lately it's sorta slooow....
I think it should be delivered NOW!!!

Sunday July 11, 2010, 6:52 am
Clean energy, recycling, conservation and GREEN technologies are coming whether we believe or wait to join… They are coming… They are our future… They are inevitable… The only question is… how much… how far… will we have destroyed our planet in the meantime… How much will we have already ruined… wasted… and exploited?

Today’s profits and shiny tombstones are of no real value… What is vitally important is for future generations being able to enjoy, understand and be part of habitats, forests, oceans and animals… We are NOT concrete and steel… We are from the soil. the water and the air...

Germany Gets Creative with Renewables:
Is Germany on its way to genuine energy independence and 100% reliance on renewable energy sources? An experiment conducted by the University of Kassel in cooperation with three energy companies challenges the conventional wisdom on renewable energy and suggests that nuclear and fossil fuel energy can be fazed out and replaced with renewables - without disrupting the supply of electricity to the national grid...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/02/germany_gets_cr.php

Sunday July 11, 2010, 8:41 am
If we don't do it ourselves, it won't be done! Politicians do what is best for them, not for us! It is very encouraging to see people like Ben Oscarsito, that are taking a strong stance on this issue, which will help save the earth for future generations.

Sunday July 11, 2010, 8:51 am
It won't matter how many "good" politicians there are in Congress that want the clean energy bill to pass, because there will always be "one" that $ways his vote in favor of Big Interests, so what can we do? We will have to "DIY" in order for us to get it, before they suck up the Three Trillions Apocalyptic Barrels of oil left in the earth. If we could do this fast enough, we could "beat" them, before they "beat" us!

Sunday July 11, 2010, 11:15 am
Waiting for politicians and other government agencies to move on this is sheer stupidity..as they have proven time and again, they will ALWAYS side with BIG-BUSINESS..and THEY will continue to "Brainwash" the public into following "THIER' agenda..All financial...IF this is to happen..EACH individual has to start on thier own..for example..the poster whos sibling re-mortgaged his home for $40,000 to convert to solar..some might say..WOW..that's a lot of money..but do the math..take all the power bills you have paid while living in your home..add them all up..how long would it take to add up to this amount..this is money YOU WOULD NOT HAVE SPENT..and when he gets the electric car...I am sure that charging it at his home would certainly save what the increase in power consumption would have been if he was on THE GRID..PLUS..I know that some states have a LAW..that the power companies MUST buy any surplus power you produce..so in actuality..one would recieve a CHEQUE from the power company every month..not a bill...if you do the math..how long..really, does it take to recoup the costs..not to mention the environmental benefits..of doing even a PARTIAL conversion to solar/wind power on your own personal level,never mind waiting for the "GOVERNMENT" or BIG BUSINESS to finally do something on a huge, commercial level?..I peresonally, have a small solar-panel I use to charge up a battery that runs my A/C only..during the hot days..and a couple interior lights when I don't need the A/C..it may be SMALL POTATOES right now..($300.00 CDN for the Panel, Batteries and Inverter)...but at least it is SOMETHING..And even if the grid overloads..at least MY A/C still works!!!.Quit waiting for "Someone" to do something...Be the "Someone" doing something..Tx

Sunday July 11, 2010, 1:47 pm
The rich and powerful do NOT want it..they would lose billions...because the sun and wind are free,and they invest heavily in oil...I know, my In-Law(outlaws) are FILTHY rich and grumbled everytime I talked about it!They must be scared 2 death that NOW people are behind this full throttle...probably dumping their oil stock like crazy,they had been holding onto them, hoping 4 the day oil would be more valuable than gold...O;)

Sunday July 11, 2010, 1:57 pm
To all the people who think it is a waste of effort to try to be careful with the world we're given, I say..."better safe than sorry!" There are several alternative that one can even get into on a DIY basis if you really care. I hope to find a cost effective way to make our home solar powered if I can manage it, and I hope more and more people continue to make similar efforts to find a better way to live.

Sunday July 11, 2010, 5:19 pm
METHANE GENERATION!!!!!!!
I may be a broken record, but the absolute ignoring of THE most efficient, elegant (in the scientific sense), multi-problem solving and already developed renewable energy source drives me crazy. The people who ARE using it, dairy farmers in your NorthEast, seem to almost want to keep it on the down low, perhaps out of fear of somehow being stopped by the Ultra powerful BIG OIL cartels and 'Ugly-Inefficient", noisy, super costly, bird-dangerous 'propellers' uglifiying landscapes everwhere? The information IS out there, on Youtube, various sites, through googling..... I guess it is just TOO beautifully simple, everyone thinks it can't possibly be real???? Or maybe it is just not as 'NICE' to think about as super-technologically complex (therefore...bette than?) Poop.manure,sewage,sh*t (which I am not even allowed to write on here...) Every living thing makes it, it is a BIG and COSTLY problem now, but it can be THE answer to a very large part of the Energy 'problem' as well as the pollution (eg poisoned spinach...) problem... So why is there a 'disconnect'?? Oil Volcanoes vs. totally clean,totally renewable methane USE (they are burning it up in the Gulf....duh... ps. methane is 20X more heating in the atmosphere than CO2 is.....

Sunday July 11, 2010, 5:53 pm
I agree fully, Madeleine..and I know of one farmer here that is using methane to run his farm..and of course..he had to do it all himself..there are no grants available for building methane generation digesters..so it falls to those with thier own inventive and fabricating bent, to figure it out and build it themselves..If one looks in the background..at more of these GRASS-ROOTS level pioneers, and the public becoming more irate at the fossil-fuel fools..you know that BIG-OIL is doing its' best to keep alternatives OUT of the news..as I believe, they see the writing on the wall...and want to get as much money out of the ground as they can..before the people finally revolt..and string all these liars up..Methane IS viable..NOW..and there ain't gonna be any shortage of the Crap for a long time, i'm guessing..;=)

Monday July 12, 2010, 7:00 am
The issue is we CANNOT AFFORD NOT to have clean energy! When you truly LISTEN to the truth about global warming, the drastic and dramatic negative effects the all the time warming of the oceans and land are causing, more violent hurricanes, more violent tornado's, more flooding than many places have ever experienced, more damage from horrible tsunami's, more drought in regions that never had drought, the damage and toll on animal life, plant life, the effects on our food chain in the oceans, rivers, seas, and the toll on crops either being under water with flooding, or too dry due to droughts, how about the latest with higher temperatures in places such as New York city, Seattle, and so forth that are not accustomed to those high temps, thus people are dying due to not have A/C. They never had to dwell in the higher temps, so they are not prepared for it. Wake up people and look all around. IT is surrounding us everywhere. The culprit? Global Warming, which is very much caused by us humans, who continue to abuse, pollute, and reek havoc with our oceans, lands, seas, rivers, and animals.

Monday July 12, 2010, 9:59 am
"A Cleaner Future"
A Cleaner Future aims to provoke, inspire, and provide information about alternative and renewable energy sources. We're not experts on what should be done, we're just concerned citizens that want there to be an earth for our children and many future generations to come.
Its hard to live in this world without being a part of the petroleum process. Its easy to look at a catastrophe like the Gulf Oil Spill and demand immediate change.
So what can we do? For starters, we can choose to no longer remain silent. We can ask questions, we can demand answers, and we can seek out the truth.
These may sound like lofty ambitions, but at one point in time so was the idea of freedom to our forefathers.
Thanks for stopping by and please get involved. We only have one World.
http://acleanerfuture.org/

Tuesday July 13, 2010, 10:23 am
Europe's Renewables Unfazed by Recession.
European renewable energy installations hit record levels last year and are likely to grow strongly over the next decade. European utilities and developers installed 10.2 gigawatts of new wind farms and 5.8 gigawatts of photovoltaic panels and solar thermal power in 2009, with such renewable power installations accounting for 62 percent of all new electricity generation capacity...
http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/25779/

Friday July 16, 2010, 3:24 pm
I've been trying to go solar for some time now. The electric company said I can't do it. They will not buy back if my meter runs backwards, and their lobby is such that they are blocking any attempt at offering rebates or credits for alternative energy. It would take something like 12 yrs for a system to pay for itself. I'm so old, I'm afraid to by green bananas. I could be dead before I break even. I'm writing, and have been writing, congressional members, gov, and all state representatives. I'm also writing candidates wanting votes in Nov.

Friday July 16, 2010, 4:39 pm
The oil business has always been the big money spinner for the big boys in government, the corporate high flyers, their lobbyists and lawyers. Clean energy alternatives have been available for over half a century. But they keep on drilling and pumping this Planet to death. Any court of justice (not law) should regard this as a crime against humanity, wildlife and our environment. Keep raising your voice so that sanity may prevail.

Friday July 16, 2010, 7:20 pm
We cannot afford to NOT embrace clean energy. Our survival as a species depends on it. Mankind's trip up the evolutionary chart has depended upon the use of our environment and, now that the environment is threatened to the point of destruction, we have to nurture nature back to health and well-being for our own selfish interest... our continued existence.

Of course we can! Renewable Energy - For a Sustainable Future!
But; -Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
I mean, those ignorant idiots who are pushing us to the Point of No Return...

Saturday July 17, 2010, 6:33 am
Alamzeb--if indeed there is global warming, we have no control over it. It is arrogant to think we can change the temp of the planet. And what temp is the planet supposed to be anyway? The planet changed temps before man even entered the picture.

Saturday July 17, 2010, 7:51 am
Well, this is about Renewable Energy for a Sustainable Future...DAMMIT!
The alternative is to continue on The Road to The Point Of No Return...
...Anone believe that oil, coal, uranium and other fossils will last forever...???
http://www.energybulletin.net/node/12126